1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to inflatable blankets for use with patients.
2. Description of the Related Art
Certain heart surgeries such as angioplasty involve inserting a catheter or other elongate medical instrument into the femoral artery of a patient's thigh, and passing the elongate medical instrument through the blood vessels to the heart.
Excessive cooling of the patient is undesirable during surgery. Various patient warming systems have been proposed, including forced-air warming blankets that bathe a patient with warm air. However, known forced-air warming blankets for covering a patient's lower body interfere with access to the patient's thigh, necessary for performing cardiac surgery through the femoral artery.
Forced-air warming blankets operate by use of a hose connected to the blanket for inflating the blanket with warm air. Positioning of the air delivery hose in forced-air warming blankets can interfere with performing cardiac surgery through the femoral artery.
It also is desirable to provide a disposable forced-air warming blanket as a sterile unit. However, unwrapping and positioning of the blanket over a patient can compromise a sterile field established around a patient.
Additionally, the air delivery hose for inflating a forced-air warming blanket is not likely to be sterile. Connecting and operating an unsterile air delivery hose with a forced-air warming blanket can thus also compromise the sterile field established around a patient.
There thus remains a need in the art for improved forced-air warming blankets for use in cardiac surgery.